His marriage to Countess Sophia von
Chotkowa und Wogni, in 1900 was called one of the world's great love affairs.
Unfortunately the Emperor considered the Duchess a commoner and tried to
convince Franz Ferdinand he was marrying beneath his station. They went through
with the marriage against the Emperor's wishes but had to renounce rights of
rank and succession for their children. In the years to come, Sophie would not
be allowed to ride in the same car with her husband during affairs of state. Ferdinand,
and his wife was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo on the 28 of June
1914 . (their fourteenth wedding anniversary) by a Serbian nationalist